Sophia's sister
by esper109
Summary: One-shot telling Beatrix's past through the eys of a younger sister.


I wish I could go back to who I was, to who we were. My very person is tainted by the acts of my sister, by her deeds and words that ring so true. She is in command, and I must follow, my own actions ringing far less true, but still great in the scheme of things.

My name is Sophia, a member of the troops under my sisters command. I don't pretend to know if it is good for us to be this close, or if it might make Beatrix weaker one day. Yes, I am the sister of General Beatrix, of Alexandria. But once, we were not fighters. We did not kill, we could not hurt others, but we did what we must.

From a young age, my sister, who is older than me, had to defend me, our family killed in a great war, but I don't remember much of them, only my mother's scent as she picked me up to put me to bed, my father's smile as he watched my every move, stumbling around, only just able to walk and run. My sister was much older, and when war came, our parents left to fight, leaving my sister in charge of me.

I don't think she entirely knew what to do with me. She might have been older than me, but at a mere 14 herself, she had no experience with children of 2. I remember flashes of my time with her, my tears when I could not find mother, my screams as I fell down the stairs and broke my arm. I inconvenienced her, she had many places she could go, but she was still innocent enough to be happy looking after me, a member of her family, and it's partly my fault that she ended up as who she did.

I do remember her tears, about a year after my family left us. In her hands, tied at the hilt with a blooded bandage, my sister held my mother's sword. I had never seen it before, but my sister knew what it was, and what it meant. I couldn't, I didn't understand why she was crying, and she took me in her arms.

I will never forget what she said to me. The words "I will protect you, I am the last of our family now who can." With those words, she took up her sword, and she could never look back. The sword she uses today is still the same one as the one she received that day, it has protected her better than it ever did my mother. The name "Save the Queen", was appointed by my sister when she entered into the palace guards.

In a very real sense, that's when my sister lost her innocence. Princess Garnet was still young then, almost the same age as me, although I think younger, just. My sister knew that one day, that princess would become queen, and she dedicated her life to that girl and her family, knowing it would be the best way to save me.

And I grew up, knowing my sister underwent training every day, trying to be the best she could ever be. She was trained in healing magic, for which I am told she had a natural ability, and her swordsmanship only got better and better. All this time, I was growing into a fine girl. My father never came home, so it was only my sister and me. She explained it all to me when I was about 7, and I cried. I still don't think that to this day, I've truly accept that I will never know my own mother. I lost so much, but I think Beatrix lost more.

And with each time I saw her, I saw something change. I was looked after in the palace, growing up as a friend and playmate to the princess herself, looked after by the same people. I received instruction in my history from Doctor Tot, and to this day I wonder what happened to him when he disappeared.

I still remember what gave her a rivalry within the ranks, even though I was only 7 at the time. A practice match gone wrong, a dark soul burst forth unbidden. It was her first loss in fights, and it hurt her terribly. Since then, her rivalry with Steiner knew no bounds, and she trained and grew, her knights stronger than his, her rank higher than his. All she did since then was to train, and train, and try to gain from her "humiliating loss".

But, whilst I grew, she became harder, colder. I did not notice at first, for she hid it well from me, not wanting me to know the truth. In reality, however, I saw everything that befell her as she was called away, to fight. Her first kill, a young man with so much to offer, almost destroyed her, and for a time, I became the mother, the guardian of the child as she had to face what she had done. I comforted her as best as I could, knowing that I was her only link to who she used to be, and her innocence was finally lost in war, hatred and death. Soon, I drew her back.

And one day, I decided to join her, to protect my childhood friend, and to honour my parents and my sister. I had no other choice, it was that, or the streets. I had had no true education, I could get no job, not even in a shop, since I had had no formal maths and counting lessons. And, having a sister like mine, I knew that it could do me no harm. I had my sister.

The heroic and legendary swordsmanship of Beatrix is known far and wide across the world, and Beatrix holds the title of the "Best swordsman in the continent". Because of such fearsome power, she is often called "The cold-blooded woman who silences even the crying infant" or "Beatrix who felled 100 men". But this isn't the sister I knew, I'm only quoting from the stories on her.

My acts, the people I've killed are far less than those of my sister. But, nonetheless, I have killed, and claimed victory. I know that my sister wants to go back to her innocent self, her armour bearing a rose to remind us all of happier times, and her happy times with her rival, with whom she is in love, are still to come. A child prodigy, they called her, and I wonder what would have happened had it been me in that place.


End file.
